The hockey rivalry between the United States and Canada has typically hit its apex during the Winter Olympics.

In 2002 at Salt Lake City, and 2010 at Vancouver, the U.S. and Canada played for the gold medal.

Canada won gold both times after hotly contested games, including overtime in ’10.

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Will it come down to the United States and Canada again this month in Sochi?

“It wouldn’t surprise me if either Canada or the United States wins the gold medal,” said Lyle Phair of Farmington Hills’ based Suburban Hockey. “It wouldn’t surprise me if neither country gets a medal. There are five or six teams that can win that tournament. Once they get to the medal round, it’s one and done. It’s not like the Stanley Cup playoffs and a seven-game series.

“There isn’t any margin for error in the medal round and the field is more even than ever.”

Phair is in a unique position to understand the dynamics of the Olympics, especially the competition between the U.S. and Canada.

He was raised in Manitoba, starred collegiately in the U.S. at Michigan State and had an extensive playing career professionally, including the NHL. For many years, he has worked for Suburban Hockey, which currently owns or runs six ice rinks in Michigan, including those in Farmington Hills, Rochester, Novi, Macomb County and Royal Oak. Phair is highly involved as a hockey instructor and administrator. He sees the U.S. vs. Canada rivalry constantly from the earliest ages up.

“Canada has more top-end players, but that doesn’t necessarily matter when it comes to having just 25 players for one tournament,” Phair said. “Even then, it’s how quickly these teams can come together. It’s not like they will have played together before the Olympics start.”

When the U.S. played Canada in the gold medal game in 2010, it was the most-watched hockey game in this country since the 1980 USA “Miracle on Ice” upset of the former Soviet Union in 1980 – 27.6 million.

In Canada, it’s always that big – or bigger. The annual World Junior Championships, for example, rarely makes a blip on the sporting news screen in this country, but it’s a huge event for Canada.

“In Canada, Olympic hockey is like the Super Bowl and the World Junior Championships the Final Four,” Phair said. “Hockey is by far the No.1 sport.”

Talent-wise, the U.S. is catching up.

“There are better athletes in the United States playing hockey overall than there were 10 years ago, and especially 20 years ago,” Phair said. “It’s a lot harder to ring up impressive goal scoring numbers at the youth and junior levels than in the past because of much better goaltending and coaches using defensive systems at a younger age, but players in the United States are bigger, faster and stronger than they have ever been. The American Olympic team reflects that."

The United States played Canada twice in ’10, winning the meeting before the medal round, and actually outscoring Canada overall, 7-6. The key factor was goaltending. The Buffalo Sabres’ Ryan Miller from East Lansing and MSU was brilliant. He is on the Olympic team again, competing with the Los Angeles Kings’ Jonathan Quick and the Red Wings’ Jimmy Howard for playing time in net.

The USA goal scoring might be better than had been anticipated. The San Jose Sharks' Joe Pavelski and Toronto Maple Leafs' Phil Kessel have been among the NHL’s leading goal scorers. The Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane is as skilled as any forward in the world. Farmington's Cam Fowler, who plays for the Anaheim Ducks, is one of the best-skating defensemen in the world. He figures to be a primary force on the USA power play.

Canada has Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Chicago's Jonathan Toews at center - and a very deep forward corps, and easily the best defensemen. If Canada has an Achilles Heel, it might be goaltending.

Sweden, which won the gold medal as recently as 2006, is led by Red Wings’ Henrik Zetterberg upfront and Niklas Kronwall on defense. The Swedes are decidedly solid overall with a proven goalie in Henrik Lundqvist.

Host Russia might have the most explosive scoring attack with Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk, Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin, Pittsburgh Evgeni Malkin and former NHL star Ilya Kovalchuk leading the way. Hockey can be viewed as Russia's most important sport - so motivation is clearly on Russia's side at home.

Finland, which has an underrated record internationally, probably has the best goaltending with Boston’s Tuukka Rask and San Jose’s Antti Niemi.

An underrated factor is the larger ice surface. Both the U.S. and Canada have tended to struggle when the Olympics have been played outside North America on the larger international ices surfaces.

“People are mistaken if they think it leads to more wide open play,” Phair said. “It doesn’t. Actually, it leads to tighter defensive systems. The reason is everybody wants to funnel teams to the outside, and there is more room to do so. If forwards on the rush get caught too far outside and up the ice, they often struggle to recover defensively. So the checking becomes very tight.

“On the larger ice surface, getting the first goal is even more important than usual.”

This will be the fifth time NHL players have participated in the Olympics. Two, in 1998 and 2006, were played on the larger ice surface. The USA and Canada didn’t medal either time.